Roger Bresnahan

Catcher · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1897-1915)

Roger Bresnahan was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1915 for 5 teams, including the Washington Nationals, a span of 19 seasons. In 1,446 career games, he hit .279 with 1,252 hits, 26 home runs, and 530 RBI. He also pitched in 9 games, going 4-1 with a 3.93 ERA. Roger Bresnahan was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 18,191.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

⭐ Hall of Fame 1945
AVG .279
HR 26
RBI 530
H 1,252
OPS .764
PIV 18,191
Position
Catcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'9" / 200 lb
Born
6/11/1879 in Toledo, OH, USA
Died
12/4/1944 in Toledo, OH, USA
MLB Debut
1897-08-27
Last Game
1915-10-03
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1945 (BBWAA)

Full name: Roger Philip Bresnahan

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Career Batting Statistics

Roger Bresnahan — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,446 4,481 682 1,252 218 71 26 530 212 714 403 .279 .386 .377 .764 18,191

Career AVG .279 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — +8.8% above league average.

Career OBP .386 vs. league average .319 across their career seasons — +21.2% above league average.

Career SLG .377 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — +12.2% above league average.

Career OPS .764 vs. league average .655 across their career seasons — +16.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Roger Bresnahan Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1897 WAS NL 6 16 1 6 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 .375 — — — — 0.0
1900 CHN NL 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1901 BLA AL 86 295 40 79 9 9 1 32 10 23 33 .268 .271 (-1%) .326 (-1%) .359 (+3%) .686 (+1%) 4.3
1902 BLA AL 65 235 30 64 8 6 4 34 12 21 16 .272 .266 (+2%) .321 (+5%) .343 (+19%) .665 (+12%) 453.9
1902 NY1 NL 51 178 16 51 9 3 1 22 6 16 26 .287 .266 (+7%) .321 (+9%) .343 (+13%) .665 (+11%) 453.9
1903 NY1 NL 113 406 87 142 30 8 4 55 34 61 45 .350 .261 (+34%) .316 (+40%) .345 (+42%) .662 (+41%) 3375.3
1904 NY1 NL 109 402 81 114 22 7 5 33 13 58 40 .284 .246 (+15%) .300 (+27%) .321 (+28%) .622 (+27%) 2107.9
1905 NY1 NL 104 331 58 100 18 3 0 46 11 50 21 .302 .248 (+22%) .307 (+34%) .322 (+16%) .629 (+25%) 1775.2
1906 NY1 NL 124 405 69 114 22 4 0 43 25 81 43 .281 .247 (+14%) .307 (+36%) .315 (+13%) .622 (+24%) 2430.1
1907 NY1 NL 110 328 57 83 9 7 4 38 15 61 26 .253 .245 (+3%) .304 (+25%) .308 (+16%) .613 (+21%) 1478.0
1908 NY1 NL 140 449 70 127 25 3 1 54 14 83 33 .283 .240 (+18%) .298 (+35%) .306 (+17%) .605 (+26%) 2613.0
1909 SLN NL 72 234 27 57 4 1 0 23 11 46 19 .244 .244 (avg) .306 (+21%) .312 (-14%) .618 (+3%) 402.5
1910 SLN NL 88 234 35 65 15 3 0 27 13 55 17 .278 .249 (+11%) .317 (+32%) .326 (+12%) .644 (+22%) 1204.6
1911 SLN NL 81 227 22 63 17 8 3 41 4 45 19 .278 .266 (+4%) .336 (+20%) .356 (+30%) .693 (+25%) 1127.8
1912 SLN NL 48 108 8 36 7 2 1 15 4 14 9 .333 .268 (+24%) .335 (+25%) .358 (+29%) .694 (+27%) 535.3
1913 CHN NL 69 162 20 37 5 2 1 21 7 21 11 .228 .259 (-12%) .325 (avg) .345 (-12%) .670 (-7%) -113.1
1914 CHN NL 101 248 42 69 10 4 0 24 14 49 20 .278 .255 (+9%) .322 (+25%) .339 (+3%) .661 (+14%) 868.3
1915 CHN NL 77 221 19 45 8 1 1 19 19 29 23 .204 .250 (-19%) .318 (-7%) .332 (-21%) .651 (-14%) -409.1
Career · 18 seasons 1,446 4,481 682 1,252 218 71 26 530 212 714 403 .279 — — — — 18,308

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

Roger Bresnahan — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
4 1 9 6 3 1 0 50.1 68 22 1 15 15 3.93 315.0

Career ERA 3.93 vs. league average 3.40 across their career seasons — 15.7% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Roger Bresnahan — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1897 WAS NL 4 0 6 5 3 1 0 41.0 52 18 10 12 3.95 4.30 (+8%) 315.0
1901 BLA AL 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 6.0 10 4 4 3 6.00 — 0.0
1910 SLN NL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3.1 6 0 1 0 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 3 seasons 4 1 9 6 3 1 0 50.1 68 22 15 15 3.93 — 315

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Roger Bresnahan — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 16 3 5 2 0 0 1 4 0 .312

Playoff Batting by Year

Roger Bresnahan — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1905 WS NY1 5 16 3 5 2 0 0 1 4 0 .312

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1444 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Roger Bresnahan — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home718219934863912268.291
Away723225733460714255.269

Pitching — Home / Away

Roger Bresnahan — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Away39.2164533.72

Last 10 Games — Batting

Roger Bresnahan — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1915-10-03 CHCSTLW 201000001
1915-10-02 CHCCINW 411000020
1915-09-28 CHCCINW 301000000
1915-09-24 CHCPHIL 100000010
1915-09-23 CHCPHIL 300000100
1915-09-22 CHCNY1L 301000000
1915-09-21 CHCNY1L 412000000
1915-09-15 CHCBSNW 300000000
1915-09-14 CHCBSNL 301000010
1915-09-07 CHCSTLW 200000000

Last 3 Games — Pitching

Roger Bresnahan — Last 3 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1910-08-03 STLBRO — 3.2610100
1901-09-04 BLACLE — 3.0400020
1901-04-30 BLAMIN L 3.0684410

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Roger Bresnahan — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 33 14 283 22 17 6
2B 28 9 33 49 5 7
3B 42 3 41 75 21 4
C 974 527 4309 1195 167 96
OF 281 141 454 47 26 18
P 9 0 2 12 1 1
SS 8 3 16 16 4 6

Season-by-Season Fielding

Roger Bresnahan — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1897 WAS OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1897 WAS P 6 0 2 7 0 0
1900 CHN C 1 0 0 0 0 0
1901 BLA 2B 2 0 9 2 1 1
1901 BLA 3B 4 0 2 3 0 0
1901 BLA C 69 0 199 63 23 3
1901 BLA OF 8 0 9 1 2 0
1901 BLA P 2 0 0 2 1 0
1902 BLA 3B 30 0 33 55 12 4
1902 BLA C 22 0 67 22 5 0
1902 BLA OF 15 0 26 3 5 0
1902 NY1 1B 4 0 41 3 2 1
1902 NY1 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1902 NY1 C 16 0 85 22 5 4
1902 NY1 OF 27 0 29 6 2 1
1902 NY1 SS 4 0 9 9 4 2
1903 NY1 1B 13 0 101 9 7 4
1903 NY1 3B 4 0 3 12 3 0
1903 NY1 C 11 0 46 11 5 1
1903 NY1 OF 84 0 150 14 6 6
1904 NY1 1B 10 8 83 8 5 0
1904 NY1 2B 1 0 0 1 0 0
1904 NY1 3B 1 1 0 0 2 0
1904 NY1 OF 93 91 151 14 8 9
1904 NY1 SS 4 3 7 7 0 4
1905 NY1 C 87 86 492 114 19 15
1905 NY1 OF 8 7 11 1 0 0
1906 NY1 C 82 81 407 125 14 6
1906 NY1 OF 40 40 71 6 3 2
1907 NY1 1B 6 6 58 2 3 1
1907 NY1 3B 1 1 1 3 2 0
1907 NY1 C 95 93 483 94 8 11
1907 NY1 OF 2 2 5 2 0 0
1908 NY1 C 139 139 657 140 12 12
1909 SLN 2B 9 9 11 25 2 6
1909 SLN 3B 1 1 2 2 2 0
1909 SLN C 59 53 211 78 12 3
1910 SLN C 77 75 295 100 16 11
1910 SLN OF 2 1 1 0 0 0
1910 SLN P 1 0 0 3 0 1
1911 SLN 2B 2 0 2 3 1 0
1911 SLN C 77 0 325 102 14 9
1912 SLN C 28 0 138 49 5 4
1913 CHN C 58 0 194 67 10 2
1914 CHN 2B 14 0 11 18 1 0
1914 CHN C 85 0 365 113 11 6
1914 CHN OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1915 CHN C 68 0 345 95 8 9

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Roger Bresnahan Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 9
Catcher 972
First Base 35
Second Base 22
Third Base 43
Shortstop 8
Left Field 18
Center Field 230
Right Field 42

Awards & Honors

Roger Bresnahan — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1911 Baseball Magazine All-Star C1
1909 Baseball Magazine All-Star C3
1908 Baseball Magazine All-Star C

Award Voting History

Roger Bresnahan — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1914 Most Valuable Player NL 11th 6.0 64 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Roger Bresnahan (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Wally Schang
    .284 avg, 59 HR
  2. 95
    Charles Zimmer
    .269 avg, 26 HR
  3. 91
    Fred Carroll
    .284 avg, 27 HR
  4. 91
    George Miller
    .267 avg, 33 HR
  5. 88
    Mike Grady
    .294 avg, 35 HR
  6. 87
    Ray Schalk HOF
    .253 avg, 11 HR

Compare Roger Bresnahan

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Bresnahan's closest peers by position and era.

vs Christy Mathewson
vs Honus Wagner
vs Nap Lajoie
vs Joe Torre
vs Josh Gibson
vs Mickey Cochrane

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Roger Bresnahan: the record in brief

Roger Bresnahan's major league career runs from a debut on August 27, 1897 to a final game on October 3, 1915. Club by club, the record runs the Washington Senators (1897), the Chicago Orphans (1900), the Baltimore Orioles (1901 to 1902), the New York Giants (1902 to 1908), the St. Louis Cardinals (1909 through 1912), and the Chicago Cubs (1913 through 1915). Listed as a catcher, Bresnahan threw and hit right-handed. Bresnahan is listed at 200 pounds on a 5-foot-9 frame. The birth record reads June 11, 1879, in Toledo, OH, USA. The bio records the death on December 4, 1944, in Toledo, OH, USA. The given name on file is Roger Philip Bresnahan.

Bresnahan collected 1,252 hits in 4,481 at bats across 1,446 games, good for a .279 batting average, plus 26 home runs, 530 RBI, and 212 stolen bases. Bresnahan got on base at a .386 rate and slugged .377 (.764 OPS).

Frequently Asked Questions about Roger Bresnahan

What years did Roger Bresnahan play?
Roger Bresnahan played in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1915.
Was Roger Bresnahan a pitcher?
Both. Roger Bresnahan pitched in 9 games, going 4-1 with a 3.93 ERA, but spent most of his career as a Catcher.
How many home runs did Roger Bresnahan hit?
Roger Bresnahan hit 26 career home runs with 1,252 hits.
Is Roger Bresnahan in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Roger Bresnahan was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.
What teams did Roger Bresnahan play for?
Roger Bresnahan played for 5 teams: the Washington Senators (1897), the Chicago Cubs (1900, 1913–1915), the Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902), the New York Giants (1902–1908), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1909–1912).
What were Roger Bresnahan's career stats?
In 1,446 games, Roger Bresnahan had 1,252 hits, 26 home runs, 530 RBI, 682 runs, and 212 stolen bases, with a .279 batting average. As a pitcher, in 9 games, he went 4-1 with a 3.93 ERA, 15 strikeouts, and 50.1 innings pitched.
What position did Roger Bresnahan play?
Roger Bresnahan played primarily as a catcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Roger Bresnahan and how much did he weigh?
Roger Bresnahan was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 200 pounds.
How many home runs did Roger Bresnahan hit each season?
Roger Bresnahan's home runs by season: 0 in 1897, 0 in 1900, 1 in 1901, 5 in 1902, 4 in 1903, 5 in 1904, 0 in 1905, 0 in 1906, 4 in 1907, 1 in 1908, 0 in 1909, 0 in 1910, 3 in 1911, 1 in 1912, 1 in 1913, 0 in 1914, and 1 in 1915. His most in one season was 5, in 1902 and 1904.
What was Roger Bresnahan's career batting average?
Roger Bresnahan batted .279 over his career, with 1,252 hits in 4,481 at bats.
How many RBI did Roger Bresnahan have?
Roger Bresnahan drove in 530 runs in his career.
What was Roger Bresnahan's career ERA?
Roger Bresnahan finished with a 3.93 career ERA, going 4-1 with 15 strikeouts.